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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29468916">Two Times Ten Equals a Winwin Situation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenic/pseuds/Selenic'>Selenic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who, NCT (Band), WAYV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, First Kiss, M/M, RPF, Time Travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:00:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,344</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29468916</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenic/pseuds/Selenic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>TARDIS decides to take a sudden interest in something new, and both Ten and the Doctor find themselves involved :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Two Times Ten Equals a Winwin Situation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So apparently my muses though that Ten meeting Ten would be amusing, and since TARDIS agreed, I had a story to write :D This was supposed to just a short funny story, but a hint or seriousness seeped in along the way, as well as some happy Ten/Winwin, and it worked out well in the end :)</p><p>A big thank you to Nagi for cheering me on with this, and for being kind enough to beta for me ^_^ All remaining mistakes are mine.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <a href="https://media.nimbus.fi/anne/images/Fanart_other/WayV/TenWin/TenWin_half.jpg"></a>
</p><p> </p><p class="enlarged">Two Times Ten Equals a Winwin Situation</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes there come days when something far out of the ordinary happens, and the outcome of the events is always a mystery right up until the end. For Ten this was about to become one of those days.</p><p>Returning to the filming set of <em>Turn Back Time</em> after a combined snack and costume change break, Ten was all suited up and ready for the next dance scene. None of the other band members were back yet, especially not the one Ten had been trying to catch all day. Sīchéng had been actively avoiding him, claiming it was because he wanted to focus on making the music video, and while it could very well be true—since Sīchéng often had trouble with more modern style dance timing—being ignored like that had made Ten feel a little dejected nonetheless. Admittedly he had teased Sīchéng a bit too much lately, but somehow whenever Ten saw Sīchéng he got this urge to poke and touch him.</p><p>One of the previous filming sets was already in the process of being dismantled, and as Ten passed by it, a strange whirring sound caught his ears. It wasn’t coming from the tools of the workers, their loud noise echoing through the large hall. Nor did it match the background electrical hum of all the lighting and cameras spread around. No, the sound was very distinct, and it was undulating and getting louder—and apparently it was also accompanied by a steady... muttering?</p><p>“Well that’s weird,” Ten noted, stopping to listen for a while, mildly intrigued by what and where the source might be. Since he'd been the first out of hair and makeup, Ten had a few minutes to indulge his curiosity.</p><p>Ten didn’t have to look for long before he spotted the corner of something blue peeking out from behind the recently removed set walls, their colourful graffiti working as camouflage for the wooden construction. As Ten approached it, the weird noise the box had been making suddenly stopped. The muttering, however, continued, and the tone and rhythm of it sounded closer to English than Chinese. The person seemed to be complaining about something, and as Ten got closer, he began to distinguish words.</p><p>“<em>You followed the music? What music?</em>” There was a pause in the grumbling. “<em>Turn back time?  Well I was trying to, but someone cut things a few years too short!</em>”</p><p>At the mention of their song, Ten’s casual interest turned into a mischievously inquisitive desire to know exactly what was going on inside the blue thing. Maybe he would discover a new fan of WayV inside. Or at least someone who wouldn't run away from him like Sīchéng. Which he literally had at some point, much to Ten's dismay. He was seriously lacking in his daily dose of Sīchéng.</p><p>The mysterious blue thing turned out to be a tall wooden box with doors on it, and a sign claiming it to be a police call box. It also said ‘pull to open’ on a plaque next to a small handle in front of him, which Ten was just about to do when the adjacent door suddenly swung inwards.</p><p>A very tall man in a pinstriped suit, possibly even taller than Sīchéng or Lucas, almost stepped out of the box—but then abruptly swivelled around, remaining half inside with one extended arm resting against the door jamb, and never even noticed Ten as he kept on talking.</p><p>“And what do you mean ‘<em>find Ten</em>’, I’m right here!” the stranger argued with someone inside and clearly had been doing so for quite a while, but to no avail it seemed. Judging by his face and accent he was European, and by the look of his hair he did his own styling. Wearing sneakers with the suit was a cool touch though.</p><p>“Look, you know me," the man said, still oblivious to having an audience now, "I usually don’t say no to unpredictable adventures, but we’re supposed to be meeting Rose in London, in 2007, and this neither the right time or the right place!”</p><p>Ten stood on his toes and peeked past the man's shoulder, only to be surprised by the wide space that opened up beyond. It looked like a control room of sorts, one that definitely called for more detailed exploration. Smiling, Ten quickly ducked under the leaning arm and entered the world of wonder. That at least got the stranger's attention.</p><p>“Wha— Hey! You! Stop right there!” the man shouted and tried to grab him, but Ten was already too far ahead to be captured, and too lost in awe to even hear him.</p><p>“This place is so retro!” Ten exclaimed with glee as he toured the big room that should never be able to fit inside the little blue box, yet somehow impossibly existed within it. The air inside had a peculiar smell and feel, like it was incredibly old yet completely new at the same time. Very intriguing indeed. The old-fashioned decor was mainly gold-hued, apart from a blue-green glow emanating from what appeared to be a control console. Naturally, Ten headed straight for it.</p><p>“Retro? <em>Retro</em>?!?” the strange man replied, clearly offended. “I’ll have you know, the TARDIS is—“ he began, then stopped, shook his head, and restarted. “No, that’s not important now. What is very, <em>very</em> important, is that you not touch anything, and make your egress via the door you just entered through if you please. I have an appointment to keep.” He gestured towards the open door rather impatiently while Ten continued his exploration of the centerpiece.</p><p>It did have an irresistible amount of switches, buttons and dials to try out.</p><p>“What’s a tardis?” Ten asked as he walked around the circular console, slender fingers gliding over the multitude of controls as he wondered what each one would do. Oddly, though there was no-one else in the big room, no other participant to the earlier argument, for some reason Ten had a sense of a—a presence, for the lack of a better word, also occupying the space they were in. It felt ancient yet childlike at the same time, as curious about Ten as he was about it, and the console seemed somehow linked to it. So if he were to—</p><p>“Oh nononono,” the man said and hurried over to stop Ten just as he was about to pull on an interesting looking lever. “TARDIS," he announced, like the name should be in all capital letters, "is short for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, and you really, <em>really</em> don’t want to pull that.”</p><p>“Why, what does it do?” Ten asked idly, as something else had already stolen his attention. There was a small monitor attached to the console, with the words ‘FIND TEN’ flashing on it in a rather insistent manner. He smiled.</p><p>“What is it with you humans and wanting to do the opposite of what you’re told,” the man—the owner of this strange machine Ten now suspected—muttered to himself before replying. “Something you’re not going to find out, as you are about to leave, and then forget you ever saw this place.” He grabbed Ten’s arm and tried to steer him toward the door, which to both their surprise suddenly slammed itself shut.</p><p>“I guess TARDIS disagrees,” Ten said, smiling triumphantly, and then pointed at the monitor. “You’ve found me.”</p><p>An incredulous look crept on the man’s face as he stared at Ten, then the monitor, then at Ten again. “<em>You’re</em> Ten?” He squinted and leaned closer. Now that Ten saw him close up, he noticed the man also had the same ambiguous air of youth and age about him as the whole place. Ten had really stumbled upon a fantastic mystery.</p><p>“Really? You?” the other man voiced his doubt again, then turned to look at the ceiling. “You wanted me to find <em>him</em>?” There was no reply, but Ten got a distinct feeling that someone was giggling. “Of course you did,” the stranger said and sighed like a man resigned to his fate.</p><p>Letting go of Ten’s arm and evidently accepting the situation he was in, he extended his hand in a greeting instead. “A pleasure to meet you Ten, I’m the Doctor. The tenth in fact, and I guess the meeting of two tens is amusing to some.” He glanced pointedly upward.</p><p>“Nice to meet you too, Doc,” Ten said, and shook the offered hand. “So this really is a time machine?” he asked excitedly. “Can we go somewhere in the past?” As soon as Ten had realized he’d come across an unimaginable chance, an image had flashed in his mind, of a time, a place, and a person.</p><p>“Time <em>and dimension</em>,” the Doctor said as he pulled his hand back, crossing his arms proudly over his chest. “We can go any <em>where</em> as well as any <em>time</em>.” Then he leaned in and gave Ten another scrutinizing stare. “Aren’t you going to ask?” He looked expectant, like Ten had missed something particular earlier. “I did say I’m <em>the Doctor</em>.”</p><p>“I don’t have any health issues at the moment,” Ten replied, a little puzzled. “But I would love to take a time trip,” he said and grinned, turning to look upward like the Doctor had, in case it made any difference. “You’ll take me, won’t you TARDIS?” he asked sweetly. “Pretty please?”</p><p>The text on the monitor switched from ‘FIND TEN’ to a screen-filling, radiating ‘YES’.</p><p>“Thank you!” Ten exclaimed, and planted a smooch on the screen, which resulted in another gigglish feel about the place. Clearly Ten had found a new fan.</p><p>“Alright, alright,” the Doctor said, shooing Ten away from the controls. “Tell me where you want to go so we can get this over with. I’m not getting any younger and at my age that’s saying a lot.”</p><p> </p><p>~~~</p><p> </p><p>They landed in the middle of a lawn, definitely not the most inconspicuous place. But for some reason no-one seemed surprised to see two men stepping out of a blue box that hadn’t existed a minute ago, almost as if the box had always stood there, and strange people popped in and out on a daily basis.</p><p>The greenery was part of a small park in Beijing, populated mainly by the students of the nearby dancing academy. They all looked so very young, and none of them looked familiar. Ten could only trust in TARDIS to have brought him to the right place and time, and he didn’t even know where to start looking—but there was someone he wanted to see, and if the only means of possibly finding that person was to walk around the campus, then that’s what Ten would do. Determined, he set out.</p><p>“Someplace you know?” the Doctor inquired, strutting alongside with his hands stuck into his pockets and taking in the scenery as they walked. The day was sunny and warm, the sky was blue if slightly hazy, but Ten hardly noticed any of it.</p><p>“Not personally, no,” he told the Doctor, scanning the various groups of people they passed by. He had heard of it though, and had seen a certain video about a certain young student among many. And many there were here too—for a brief moment Ten considered just calling him out by name, but with the way he looked right now, he might give out the wrong kind of impression.</p><p>Standing out from the Chinese locals, their outfits did get a few looks and pointed fingers, Ten garnering attention with his jacket stuck full of safety pins and his blond hair striped with pink, and the Doctor simply for being so tall and outlandish. Not to mention he was now waving some sort of a glowy wand around that also made a funny noise, and mumbling to himself. "Earth, early 21st century, Beijing, China... Not a particularly exciting destination when you have the entire universe to choose from..."</p><p>Apart from all that, no-one took too much interest in the clearly foreign duo. Just a few years back in time had still kept them in the 21st century after all, so they should be fine.</p><p>“If not the place, then what are we here to see, if I may ask?” the Doctor inquired seemingly bored as he pocketed away his whirry wand, but Ten got a feeling he was slowly becoming more curious about the matter than he let on. “Most people who get a chance like this fall into two categories—they either want to see something they know and love, or something as far out of the ordinary as possible. I would have picked you for the latter, but it seems I am mistaken.”</p><p>Finally Ten saw a familiar figure in the distance, dancing under the shadow of a tree. </p><p>“Him,” Ten told the Doctor, smiling. He picked up speed, leaving the Doctor to follow in his own unhurried pace while Ten quickly searched for a good viewing spot, not too far from his target, but not too near either. He was here only to observe, not to interfere.</p><p>Reaching a suitable tree, Ten leaned against it and settled into the shade to watch the young boy practice. Working diligently despite the heat of the day, the boy repeated the dance moves if they were wrong even slightly, sometimes talking to himself while correcting his posture or the position of his fingers. Watching him, Ten couldn’t help but smile again, and a rush of pride and affection warmed his heart. This was the Dǒng Sīchéng that he had wanted to see, the boy behind the man who would become Winwin.</p><p>The similarity to the boy’s older self was there, in the lines of his face that weren’t yet so developed, and in the arcs of his movements that, while not yet so perfectly honed, already showed his talent. He still had some growing to do as well, his height so far closer to Ten’s and not above it, which just made him cuter.</p><p>“He’s good,” the Doctor noted when he finally arrived, choosing a spot by the tree and sitting down on the grass, resting his tall back against the bark.</p><p>“Naturally,” Ten huffed proudly, still not taking his eyes off Sīchéng. The young face was full of concentration, interrupted occasionally by a lively expression that would be required in the performance. Sīchéng’s bodylines were all according to his schooling so far, traditional Chinese dancing with no trace of the later influences. He could no doubt have gone so far in that field alone, yet he had chosen to take another route, though Ten had heard persuading him to take it had not been easy. Whatever the reason for his choice, Ten was happy Sīchéng had made it because that had led to Ten being able to meet him.</p><p>Ten could have kept watching him all day, just to learn a bit more about who Dǒng Sīchéng really was. But as the impatient Doctor probably wouldn't give him too much time, Ten pulled his phone from his pocket and sneakily took a few pictures, and a short video. Then he put it away and tried to just etch the moment into memory.</p><p>“So you like him,” the Doctor noted after having observed them both for a while. Not a question but a fact. “I mean the future him.”</p><p>Ten simply glanced downwards at the Doctor, smiling as bright as ever. The Doctor smiled back just as widely.</p><p>“Anyone who can make someone smile like that is a treasure,” he said, his gaze also turning towards the dancing young boy. “Have you told him?” the Doctor asked, with a touch more interest now. "Or is that something you're here to decide on?" How perceptive of him.</p><p>“Yes, and no,” Ten replied to both questions. Coming here, he honestly hadn't thought much beyond his curiosity, but...</p><p>Sīchéng was taking a break to drink water, and he looked their way for a moment, a pondering frown appearing on his face as he noticed the strange pair watching him. Not wanting to rouse suspicion, Ten quickly sat down behind the Doctor, using the other's tall frame to hide from Sīchéng. He'd been hiding behind other things as well.</p><p>“I keep saying things like ‘I like you’ and ‘I love you’, but it’s mainly just to tease him a little,” Ten said, taking a quick peek to make sure Sīchéng was back to dancing before leaning out of sight again. He sighed and looked up, at the sunlight sifted by the green leaves. "But I can't seem to be able to leave him alone either," Ten confessed, laughing briefly.</p><p>"Ah," was all the Doctor replied, but it implied that he understood enough.</p><p>At first Ten had just wanted to pull Sīchéng more out of his shell. Teasing him was fun, especially since his reactions were always so straightforward. Sīchéng would also bluntly let Ten know if he was going too far, and could also throw a few verbal punches of his own. Ten thoroughly enjoyed all their back and forth and poking fun at each other, but Sīchéng was too precious to him to take things any further.</p><p>Then again, Ten wasn't even sure what he thought of as further, their lives being what they were, with music and dancing holding such huge spaces both in their hearts as well as their daily schedules, that other things sometimes had a hard time fitting in.</p><p>“I can’t be too serious about it right now," Ten told the Doctor.  "But if I find the right time...” His voice faded. In their situation, he knew the right time might never arrive. But Ten still wanted to tell Sīchéng how he felt, if for no other reason than to see what would happen. He didn't want to regret not having done it when he could.</p><p>“You know the funny thing about time—” the Doctor said quietly, and when Ten looked his way he was smiling faintly, but it looked more sad than happy. The Doctor faced him, honest and serious. “—is that no matter how much you think you have, you never have enough.”</p><p>For a moment all his youthfulness vanished, and the Doctor seemed weighed with more years than anyone should ever bear, just a fleeting image that disappeared as if it had never existed. It was quickly replaced by a wider smile that reached his eyes, but the image stuck with Ten and made his chest tight. Would he feel such regret if he didn’t say something? Or would he regret it more if he did? There was just no way of telling, which was why he kept on hesitating.</p><p>“So you should tell him,” the Doctor said firmly, then suddenly leaped up, brushing the grass of his suit before extending a hand to Ten, who took it and let himself be pulled up.</p><p>The Doctor let go of his hand and started strolling across the lawn, towards his blue box in the distance.</p><p>“Come on, Doctor’s orders,” he called back to Ten. “Now that you’ve seen him in the past, don't you want to take a peek at the future as well?”</p><p>"The TARDIS can do that?" Ten shouted to him. The Doctor just flashed a grin over his shoulder. Another impossible chance was being offered, and how could Ten say no to that? Maybe there was no way of telling how to choose, but perhaps there was a way for Ten to choose twice.</p><p>Just as he was about to dash after the Doctor, someone called out to him in Chinese.</p><p>“Excuse me, sir, but you dropped this.” Even if he sounded younger, Ten knew that voice all too well.</p><p>Slowly facing Sīchéng, Ten found him bowing politely, offering with two hands the smartphone that must have fallen from Ten's pocket when he'd sat down.</p><p>“Ah, thank you,” Ten replied, also in Chinese, and reached for the phone, hoping it hadn’t looked too out of place in this era. As he grabbed it he accidentally turned the screen on, and Ten realized only too late that the background image was his favourite selfie taken with Sīchéng.</p><p>Ten didn’t stick around to watch another puzzled expression spread on the boy’s face as he started to realize who he was seeing. Instead, Ten snatched the phone from Sīchéng's hands and made a run for it.</p><p>“Allons-y!” the Doctor shouted from far ahead, and hoping it meant ‘let’s go’, Ten wholly agreed.</p><p> </p><p>~~~</p><p> </p><p>The future turned out to be a quiet rooftop and a cool dawn, with the sky growing lighter and warm colours already glowing in the horizon. The air still held a fresh note of night, but it wouldn’t take long for the rising sun to heat it up for a summer day.</p><p>“I’ll wait inside,” the Doctor said quietly, and softly closed the door, giving Ten the privacy he needed. Having his machine back to himself, the Doctor could have just decided to leave, but Ten was pretty sure TARDIS wouldn’t let him. Pretty sure.</p><p>Stepping away from the TARDIS door, Ten walked past the small rooftop apartment and into the open space beyond. He was starting to feel oddly nervous.</p><p>The area was lined with various benches and potted plants, with a few boxes lying around here and there—and in the empty spot in the middle of them, wearing just a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, Sīchéng danced. Not to any music, or to any choreography, but freely, to his own beat. The style was more mixed now than that of the youth Ten had just seen, the elements of Sīchéng’s Chinese heritage flowing seamlessly with those of modern dance moves, and it was beautiful.</p><p>Sīchéng whirled around as he danced, and almost stumbled when he noticed Ten, confused at first, but then he smiled and waved at him. While Ten waited, Sīchéng picked up a sweatshirt from a bench and pulled it on before coming to meet him.</p><p>“You’re up,” he said in Chinese when he arrived, slightly breathless, a touch of red on his cheeks, and his eyes as bright as his smile. He didn’t look older than the Sīchéng that Ten knew, even his short hair was the same, so this probably wasn’t too far ahead in time. But that didn’t matter, even a few days would be enough, and the future had plenty of chances to change if things didn’t go well.</p><p>"Couldn't wait to see you," Ten replied with a smile, switching language gears to Chinese as well, and then took Sīchéng’s hands into his own. “Because I like you so much,” Ten said, but it came out as it always did, not serious enough to do any damage. It wasn't easy to change a habit just because you wanted to.</p><p>“I like you too,” Sīchéng said back brightly, and Ten knew it was half-jokingly. They were friends, close like all the group members—a home away from home, a found family. But it was not the only kind of like he felt for Sīchéng, and Ten wanted to finally find out what it could mean.</p><p>“But why are you dressed like that this early?” Sīchéng asked, poking at the jacket and the thick mass of safety pins on the shoulder, then stroking Ten's hair and checking out the pink stripes in it. "Did you already have a shoot at this hour?" He didn't seem to recognize the outfit.</p><p>“No, I mean that—“ Ten started to explain, but then stopped, and focused. He wanted Sīchéng to know he was serious this time, not joking around with his ‘I love you’ or Korean ‘saranghae’ as he normally might have. For this, ‘I like you’ was serious enough when you really meant it.</p><p>Ten looked up at Sīchéng, and took a deep breath.</p><p>“<em>Dǒng Sīchéng,</em>” Ten told him, pronouncing Chinese as clearly and honestly as he could. “<em>Wǒ xǐhuān nǐ</em>. <em>Zhēn de, zhēn de xǐhuān nǐ</em>.”</p><p>Ten watched the words sink in, and he’d probably never been so nervous in his life. Sīchéng looked even more confused, clearly not sure how he was supposed to react to the unexpected confession, but at least he wasn’t angry. But doing things halfway wasn’t enough—Ten still had a question of his own to ask.</p><p>“Sīchéng, do you like me?”</p><p>Suddenly Sīchéng yanked his hands away, grabbed the collar of his sweatshirt and pulled it over his face to hide it from view. But the tips of his ears remained visible, burning red in the dawn sunlight, and that was answer enough.</p><p>“You can't just ask me that so suddenly!” he chided Ten from within his fabric cocoon.</p><p>“Why not?” Ten asked teasingly, barely holding back a laugh and crushing Sīchéng with a hug. He was just so happy right now.</p><p>“Because I can’t lie to you about it!” Sīchéng replied, muted against the shirt, the warmth of his breath pushing through it and into Ten’s hair.</p><p>“So you want to lie about it?” Ten said with feigned dejection and pulled away, even as a grin split his face. But poor Sīchéng couldn’t see it.</p><p>“Yes!” he replied quickly from his hiding place, then just as fast changed it to: “No!”</p><p>“Then don’t,” Ten told him, hooking a finger into Sīchéng’s shirt collar, gently pulling it down to reveal dishevelled hair, a flushed face, and a pair of eyes that were shut tightly.</p><p>“Lean down a bit,” Ten said, nudging a little with his finger.</p><p>“Why?” Sīchéng asked, but obeyed nonetheless and leaned closer to Ten.</p><p>“Because you’re taller,” Ten told him, and then, feeling oddly shy, he placed a soft kiss on Sīchéng's lips, lingering there for a few seconds before pulling back, his heart beating faster in his chest. There was no going back now. <em>No, wait, there was</em>, Ten thought—but somehow the moment felt irreversible nonetheless. And then, it began to feel wrong, and endlessly sad.</p><p>Very slowly, Sīchéng opened his eyes, and suddenly Ten couldn't look into them anymore. For as much as he'd wished for this to happen, the truth was that this was not <em>his</em> Sīchéng, but one of the future. He had hid once again, behind time of all things, and had cheated them both out of a real chance to see if they would end up together or not.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Ten said, feeling even worse for what he was about to do. "Just forget about this, I took the joke too far."</p><p>Sīchéng said nothing, and that in itself was scary.</p><p>"I have to go," Ten said, and leaving the speechless Sīchéng behind, he ran straight back to the TARDIS, stumbling through the doors and shutting them fast behind him.</p><p>"Take me back," Ten told the Doctor, not looking him in the eyes either as he slid down to sit on the floor.</p><p>As the machine's whirring noise marked their departure, Ten finally heard Sīchéng calling for him, but the voice faded fast as they disappeared from his sight, and his time.</p><p> </p><p>~~~</p><p> </p><p>All the way back, Ten remained where he'd sat down. After having set the dials and getting them on their way, the Doctor joined him.</p><p>"Another funny thing about time," he said as he sat down, sounding almost consoling, "is that the more you spend travelling it back and forth, the more important your present becomes. The place you are in, the people around you, the very moment you live in." He leaned against the doors with Ten, just as they had leaned against the tree not too long ago, yet years in the past.</p><p>"But in reverse, you also become less important to the present of others. You just pass by," the Doctor continued, drawing an arc through the air with his hand, "perhaps never to be seen again when you are gone. And sometimes, that can be a good thing."</p><p>Ten thought about that for a while. Maybe there was still a way to make things right, like he should have from the start. There were no shortcuts in life, or love.</p><p>Meanwhile, The TARDIS reached their destination, coming to a halt with a light thud. Ten pulled himself up, reaching for the small latch that held the door closed. But he wasn't ready to open it quite yet.</p><p>"You think I will be like that to the Sīchéng I just met?" Ten asked the Doctor. "A weird appearance that he'll forget?" For the future Sīchéng's sake, Ten hoped that to be the case.</p><p>"Weeeell...." the Doctor replied rather oddly. Rising to his full height, he opened the latch, pulled the door open and with a gentle but strong push on Ten's back, maneuvred him out of the opening.</p><p>"In this case, probably not," he said as Ten stumbled out of the TARDIS and into his own timeline, and the familiar MV filming set—and fell under the gaze of Sīchéng, who stared at him with a very serious expression.</p><p>"You see time—" the Doctor said, pausing to chuckle, "—is also hardly ever what you think it is."</p><p>"<em>So it really was you this morning</em>," Sīchéng interrupted their discussion. "<em>And all those years ago.</em>" His makeup and costume full of random tears and safety pins were way too similar to Ten's own to ignore. This was his present, his Sīchéng, no doubt about it. But it couldn't be, not unless—</p><p>"<em>This morning</em>?" Ten asked Sīchéng in Chinese, confused for a second. "This morning?!?" he turned to shout at the Doctor in English. "You said TARDIS could take me into his future!"</p><p>The Doctor peeked out, giving Sīchéng a quick smile and "Nǐ hǎo" before replying.</p><p>"She could," he told Ten and grinned, "didn't say she would though. She does have a mind of her own and sometimes she just does what she wants."</p><p>Before Ten could properly process everything, Sīchéng grabbed him by the wrist and, while glaring at the Doctor in the most polite way he could, told him in very carefully pronounced English:</p><p>"Hello, nice to meet you, sir. Please, excuse us but we have to go now. Bye." Then he was already dragging Ten away from the TARDIS.</p><p>"Nice to meet you too! Bye!" The Doctor replied, grinning widely, until his waving hand disappeared inside the blue box "And good luck!" Ten heard the Doctor shout before the door of the TARDIS closed with a thump, and the muttering that had started the whole ordeal resumed once more.</p><p>"<em>So! Now that that's all resolved happily, can we finally</em>—" A pause. "<em>No I would not call this a win-win situation for all, since I for one have lost hours of my precious time and...</em>"</p><p>The grumbling grew quieter as Ten was taken further away, fading out completely when Sīchéng led them into a small, hidden nook between two shelves full of all sorts of props and equipment. There, to Ten's utter surprise, Sīchéng pulled him into a tight hug.</p><p>"<em>Wǒ yěshì</em>," he said, the sound muffled because he was mostly talking down into Ten's shoulder.</p><p>"You... too?" Ten asked, the sequence of events gradually clicking into place.</p><p><em>This morning</em>. He really had kissed Sīchéng, not a few years into the future, not a few weeks, not even a few days, but <em>this morning</em>. Yet instead of avoiding Ten like he had all day, now Sīchéng held him even closer as if to make sure Ten couldn't leave.</p><p>"You ran away before I could say anything, and then you just vanished with the blue box and when I came down from the roof you were still asleep in your room like nothing had happened and I got confused and didn't know what to do so I ran away too so I could think," Sīchéng continued, his words rushing out in a torrent. "But I've had time to think now, and now that I know it really was you, I'm saying it too, so—"</p><p>Sīchéng paused to draw breath, then spoke, with purposeful clarity, and enough loudness for anyone close by to hear despite the noises on the set.</p><p>"Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, Lǐ Yǒngqīn, Lee Young Heum, Ten," Sīchéng listed all the names he knew to make things absolutely clear. "<em>Wǒ xǐhuān nǐ. Wǒ zhēn de, zhēn de xǐhuān nǐ</em>."</p><p><em>So this was his answer</em>, Ten thought, smiling even as air was being crushed out of him. Honest and straightforward, so like Sīchéng.</p><p>"Could you repeat that? I don't think everyone in the film crew heard you," Ten said, breathless, muffled and laughing into Sīchéng's chest.</p><p>"<em>Chittaphon Leechaiyap</em>—" Sīchéng started even louder, and Ten had to hurry and pull free to slam a hand over Sīchéng's mouth to stop him. He really should have seen that coming.</p><p>"Shhh!" Ten hushed him, but they were both laughing now, and laughed even louder once they realized their dangly costumes had stuck together. Of course that was the perfect time for the others to start looking for them, and Ten could already hear Lucas’ booming voice calling their names.</p><p>"Ten, Sīchéng, hurry up we're starting!"</p><p>"Wait, I'll just..." Ten said, turning full circle and wriggling out of his jacket, so he could start detaching the numerous chains and safety pins from each other before they were found.</p><p>"Look up," Sīchéng said, and didn't sound worried at all.</p><p>"Why?" Ten asked, still trying to detangle things, but he looked up nonetheless.</p><p>Sīchéng stopped Ten's busy hands, placing his own over them.</p><p>"Because you're shorter, of course," he replied, smiling, and then leaned down to kiss Ten—unhesitant, unhurried, uncaring of what anyone who saw them would think, his mouth tasting the softness of Ten's lips in invitation—and falling into it was as easy as breathing, as intense as dancing your heart out to music that got into your spine, and unexpectedly sensuous. <em>So dancing isn't the only thing Sīchéng is naturally talented at</em>, Ten thought, smiling into the kiss, arching his back a little more to press closer to Sīchéng and—</p><p>"Woah!" a loud voice shouted behind him, sounding more than a little shocked. It was Lucas. To his surprise, Ten was the first to break the kiss, and the only one to hide his face. Not because he was embarrassed, but because wasn't sure what to say, how to explain things. Sīchéng had no such problems.</p><p>"Lucas!" he called out cheerfully, waving at him as if nothing was out of the ordinary.</p><p>"<em>Did you find them?</em>" Ten heard Yangyang call from farther away.</p><p>"Yes!" Lucas replied hastily, "You go ahead, no need to come here, I'll bring them over!" Like that wasn't going to attract Yangyang to the scene.</p><p>Ten sighed, but happily. The guys were going to find out soon enough anyway. They could hide things from the public if needed, but not from those close to them.</p><p>"So, ah, you two?" Lucas asked, sounding more stunned than anything. As Ten glanced over, Lucas was standing there scratching his head, as if embarrassed for having interrupted them, but nothing more.</p><p>"Yes," Sīchéng told him, as if no other explanation was needed. And maybe he was right. But Sīchéng was Sīchéng, and Ten was Ten, and it was time to act like it.</p><p>"<em>My honey</em>," Ten said excessively sweetly, clinging on to Sīchéng as if worried, "we've been found out!" His happy grin gave him away though.</p><p>"Cool," Lucas said, and smiled widely as well. "But filming will start soon so we've got to go. I'm giving you one minute to sort yourselves out," he said, pointing a finger at each in turn, then turning his back to them but clearly not intending to leave. "I'll keep an eye out," he noted as he crossed his arms over his chest and making no further comment. There would be questions asked later for sure.</p><p>Barely a few seconds later, Yangyang arrived, with the rest of WayV in tow, and a hushed discussion began among them. There were a few laughs, a few questions of 'Really?' and then Kun's calmly proud voice telling everyone: "What, you didn't see that coming?"</p><p>"How's my makeup?" Ten asked Sīchéng, while checking his in turn. They hadn't messed things up too bad, but a touch-up would be necessary.</p><p>"Needs fixing," Sīchéng replied frankly, wiping off a bit of errant lipstick with his thumb. After that he turned his attention to the mess that was their stuck together clothing, Ten's jacket still hanging from Sīchéng's.</p><p>"Time's up!" Lucas called out to them, but didn't yet make a move to rush them out. Ten noticed Kun pushing the other members along though, so at least someone would be on set on time.</p><p>"Aren't you curious? About the machine?" Ten asked Sīchéng, helping him out with the task to speed things up. Sīchéng must have figured things out too, and guessed what had happened. "Wouldn't you want to try it too, time travelling?"</p><p>"No," Sīchéng said as they finally managed to take things apart. "Because I like where I am now," he said, handing Ten's jacket back to him.</p><p>"Me too," Ten said, smiling. Pulling the jacket on he said, "Let's go," and together they started heading out, much to the relief of Lucas, who gave them a quick nod and ran off after the others.</p><p>"But if it was with you..." Sīchéng said as they walked out, turning to give Ten a grin, and holding out his hand.</p><p>"We'll just have to see what TARDIS thinks of that," Ten replied, taking Sīchéng's hand, pretending he was being dragged along. Picking up on the act, Sīchéng started pulling him ahead for real, and soon they were laughing and running towards their future, together.</p><p>Somewhere in the distance, a strange whirring sound slowly faded out. As the TARDIS slipped out of this time and into another, the sound of music and a faint muttering could be heard.</p><p>"<em>Actually this song isn't half bad once you get used to it. What was it called again?</em>"</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>~~~ End ~~~</p><p> </p>
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